Never on Sunday, unless a UCLA coach is fired

Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, a mistake made by UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero.

But when we parted Saturday after discussing Karl Dorrell’s job status, Guerrero said, “I’ll see you next Sunday.”

A very strange thing to say -- unless Guerrero has already made up his mind to dismiss Dorrell and will do so the day after the UCLA-USC game.

“I’m not sure you meant to say that,” I said, but then Guerrero’s a quick thinker as long as he has UCLA sports information director Marc Dellins standing next to him to help.

“The basketball game,” Dellins said.

“Yeah, you know, the basketball game,” Guerrero said. “We’ll see you at next Sunday’s basketball game.”

I guess Guerrero took for granted I would not be attending Wednesday night’s game in Pauley Pavilion.

It’s also quite a leap to think he will ever see me on a Sunday because I don’t work on Sundays, unless it’s the Super Bowl or a major news conference has been called to discuss the dismissal of a local college football coach.

If Guerrero has already made the decision -- after telling me Saturday he has not -- I guess it really doesn’t matter much what Pete Carroll has to say now about the job Dorrell has done.

On these matters, though, you would think Carroll would be considered an expert.

“I think he’s done a fantastic job,” Carroll said. “I think they have had the issues that can stagger a program with the quarterback situation that they have had, let alone other injuries that they have had.”

Carroll ticked off the names of the teams across the nation that have lost their starting quarterbacks at times, including his own, and how they have all suffered.

“I think they have gone to a couple levels beyond where most teams go where you have to go to your backup quarterback,” Carroll said. “To have to suffer through that back and forth, they found ways to win and created an opportunity to win when a lot of other teams wouldn’t have. . . . He’s found a way to keep his team together.”

I asked, of course, just as you would, whether Carroll was praising Dorrell just to keep him around because it’d be the best thing for USC in the long run.

He said no, which is understandable after Dorrell’s team cost the Trojans a chance to play for a national title last year.

“It’s not a coach’s fault guys get hurt,” Carroll said. “It’s almost too much to ask when things happen like that.”

Carroll talked about the injury to John David Booty and how it affected the Stanford game, and the fact the Trojans had to take on Oregon with a backup quarterback.

“I think it’s a fact [Dorrell] has been up against extraordinary odds,” Carroll said, “and we understand what it’s like.”

Come Saturday, the heavily favored Trojans will start Booty and Carroll said his team is now preparing to face Patrick Cowan, calling him UCLA’s best quarterback.

“This is a chance to be at our best,” said Carroll, while pronouncing everyone healthy, including the Trojans’ practice squad. “I’m fired up about it.”

Come Sunday, meanwhile, Dorrell might just be fired.

BEFORE TUESDAY night’s Lakers game with Seattle, a reporter asked Phil Jackson what he’s seen from Luke Walton this season.

“Not much,” Jackson said.

I KNOW you’ve been waiting for the Dodgers’ big move, well, here it is -- they hired a real-live dentist to be yet another PR guy for the McCourts. The Dentist, who worked as an intern for the Baltimore Orioles while going to dental school, will now answer to Jamie McCourt. Same as Frank.

Before joining the Dodgers, the Dentist had been working for the Boston Red Sox. What a surprise.

Now it’s never been much fun covering the Dodgers, but now reporters really will have to go to the Dentist if they want to talk to the Parking Lot Attendant or Frank’s Old Lady.

THE STORY in The Times under the headline, “Colletti OK with young players” follows another story in the Boston Globe two days earlier quoting McCourt. Wonder if the Dentist set that up with the Globe.

“I think we’re in good position right now,” McCourt told Globe reporter Nick Cafardo. “We don’t have to make a deal. We made the biggest move we needed to make in signing Joe [Torre].”

I’m not surprised McCourt is playing Dodgers fans for suckers, counting on 3.8 million people to show up to get a look at Torre making a pitching change.

But what’s happened to Colletti? He played second fiddle for years as an assistant GM, and now again appears to be leaving all the decisions to McCourt, baseball expert that he is. Based on last year’s signings, though, who’s complaining?

IT COULD be worse, Colletti could’ve signed Torii Hunter to try to recover from last year’s botched signing of Juan Pierre.

Hunter has a career on-base percentage of .324, while the oft-criticized Pierre has a career on-base percentage of .348. Hunter is a .271 career hitter, Pierre .301.

Hunter averages 23 more home runs per season than Pierre, and Pierre averages 37 more stolen bases.

Hunter is a terrific defender, but then so is Mr. HGH, who already occupies the position. It makes you wonder whether the Angels are worried that Gary Matthews, who met with Commissioner Bud Selig recently to discuss his alleged drug problem, is facing a 50-game suspension. Otherwise, it just makes you wonder why they signed the guy.

TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Bob Tucker:

“A few weeks ago you wrote an article about how the Trojans would be playing their bowl game in El Paso. Could you elaborate on that a little more? Has the Rose Bowl been moved to Texas?”

The scare tactics were meant to motivate the players, not mentally tax the team’s fans.

t.j.simers@latimes.com